Kyiv (13-20th centuries)

Kyiv (13-20th centuries)

The prosperity of Kyiv was broken off by the process of feudal dismemberment of Rus, greatly weakening the country and resulting in the decay of the city. A severe trial was the Tatar invasion. In 1240 Kyiv was captured by Baty's hordes, devastated and plundered. The city was subjected to the Tatar yoke for over a hundred years. In the 14th century it was captured by Lithuanian grand dukes, and became part of Lithuanian and later of the Polish-Lithuanian state over the course of almost 300 years.

During the 17-18th centuries the architectural aspect of the city took shape gradually, the predominant style being baroque. The tsar's palace and St. Andrew's Church were built after the design of V. Rastrelli. The city at that time extended along the Dnieper in the form of three separate settlements — Podil, the Upper City and the Pechersk, which sprang up in the 17th century around the Kyiv-Pechersk Monastery.
The first theater in Kyiv was opened in Khreshchatyk Street at the beginning of the 19th century. The founding of the Kyiv gymnasium and a number of schools dates back from this time. Kyiv University was founded in 1834, and the first Kyiv newspaper started publication in 1838.

In the 19th century the predominating style became that of classicism. Street lighting, stone-paved roads and pavements appeared. Trees were planted on the slopes of the Dnieper. A number of enterprises grew up; steamships appeared on the Dnieper; in 1870 railway communication with Moscow was opened. The first tramline was laid down in 1892.

Great damage was done to Kyiv during the years of the Civil War and foreign military intervention.
In 1934 Kyiv became the capital of Ukraine, which triggered a period of extensive construction. It, however, was interrupted by the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945).

Immeasurable destruction was caused to Kyiv by the Nazi occupation forces. More than 195 thousand people were either brutally murdered at Babyi Yar or tortured in the concentration camps. Over two thousand factories, public buildings and apartment houses, many outstanding architectural monuments were destroyed.

Khreshchatyk and other central streets lay in ruins.
After liberation of the city in November 1943, Kyiv rose from the ruins anew. Greater attention was given to modem trends in the design of houses.

Since the war Kyiv has steadily expanded, annexing villages to its west, east, and north. New residential districts were created in the suburbs.